The “POPULARES” community bank are beginning their second loan cycle with Pro Mujer, as part of the Panamericana regional office. The group has eleven members and is run by a board of directors which has Jenny as its secretary. The businesses that the members of the group are engaged in are varied and include: selling traditional skirts, sewing comforters, knotting blankets, weaving garments, selling clothes, selling food and selling burgers.

This loan will benefit small micro-businesswomen including Jenny. Jenny says that she has been a member of Pro Mujer for three loan cycles. She joined through an invitation from a loan officer who went to her house to visit her. She currently has a business selling comforters. She says that she started her business after her sister taught her how to sew these household accessories.

The loan that Jenny is taking out will be used to increase her capital (buying fabric). She will acquire her fabric in the street markets in the city of El Alto and then sell the finished goods from her sales location. This work allows her to make income with which to support her household as well as she can.

When asked what she likes about Pro Mujer, Jenny replied that she likes the health training and the loans.

n.b. Justina is missing from the photograph because she had to attend a doctor's appointment.

Additional Information

This is a Group Loan

In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure, but groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee. In cases where there is a group guarantee, members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.

Kiva's Field Partners typically feature one borrower from a group. The loan description, sector, and other attributes for a group loan profile are determined by the featured borrower's loan. The other members of the group are not required to use their loans for the same purpose.